Erected 2013 – This bridge commemorates the area where the first pioneers crossed the Jordan River to settle the West side of the Salt lake Vanney. In November 1848, the family of Joseph and Susannah Harker were the first “over Jordan” and built a log home near 3300 South and 1400 West.

On January 9, 1849, the families of Thomas MacKay, John Bennion, Samuel Bennion, Thomas Tarbet, William Blackhurt, William Farrer, John Robinson and James Taylor crossed the Jordan River on the ice and built dugouts and cabins in this area.

Other settlers followed these first pioneer, resulting in many prosperous communities West of the Jordan River. Pioneer Crossing Bridge honors these first families and all others who have sought a brighter future by making their home on the Salt Lake Valley’s West side.

Moesser – Rushton Granary

Erected c1878 in Hunter, Preserved 2014 – As pioneers and homesteaders moved West across the Salt Lake Valley they prospered in developing farming communities. Harvested lumber from Bingham, Harker and Coon Canyons in the Oquirrh Mountains was used by settlers to build area homes, barns and granaries.

Pioneer Joseph Hyrum Moesser constructed this granary near his adobe brick house in c1878 at approximately 4450 South 5400 West in Hunter. Newly wed Alma E Rushton acquired this granary and surrounding farm in 1917. Merging it into the Rushton homestead across the street. This historic granary was in use for over 100 years of agricultural production and is perhaps the oldest building in West Valley City today. It commemorates all those that seek to build and shape their community into a better place.

On July 22, 1847, an advanced party of the first Mormon pioneers entered the valley and immediately began to irrigate land and explore the area with a view to establishing new settlements. Alexander Beckstead, a blacksmith from Ontario, Canada, moved his family to the West Jordan area in 1849, and became the first of his trade in the south Salt Lake Valley. He helped dig the first ditch to divert water from the Jordan River, powering Archibald Gardner’s flour mill. In 1859, Beckstead became the first settler of South Jordan by moving his family along the Jordan River where they lived in a dugout cut into the west bluffs above the river. The flood plain of the Jordan was level, and could be cleared for farming if a ditch was constructed to divert river water along the base of the west bluff. Beckstead and others created the 2.5-mile “Beckstead Ditch”, parts of which are still in use as of 2010.

The Jordan River Utah Temple (formerly the Jordan River Temple) is the 20th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

Located in South Jordan, Utah, it was built with a modern single-spire design. A site dedication and groundbreaking ceremony were held on June 9, 1979. The ceremony and dedication were presided over by church president Spencer W. Kimball. Instead of the usual small ceremonial shovel-full of dirt at the groundbreaking, Kimball used a large power scoop shovel to begin the building process. The temple was open to the public for tours September 29 through October 31, 1981.

Over half a million people toured the temple during its open house. On August 7, 2015 the LDS Church announced that beginning February 15, 2016, the temple closed for renovations that are anticipated to be completed during the latter part of 2017.

West Jordan received its name from Mormon settlers who entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847 under the leadership of their prophet, Brigham Young. These first European-Americans thought of the area to be their Zion, or Holy Land, and thus named the river flowing west of their first settlement, Salt Lake City, the Western Jordan, a reference to the River Jordan in Israel. The name was later simplified to “Jordan River”. Like its Middle Eastern namesake, the Jordan River flows from a fresh water lake (Utah Lake) to an inland salt sea (Great Salt Lake). West Jordan was founded around 1849 on the western banks of the Jordan River.

One of the first sawmills in the area was built in 1850 in the city by Archibald Gardner. Gardner was a devout Mormon whose legacy can still be seen in modern West Jordan. His collection of mills and houses, now historic, have been renovated into a specialty shopping district known as Gardner Village.

Early West Jordan relied primarily on agriculture, mills, and mining activity to form the base of its economy. The first leather tannery west of the Mississippi River was constructed in the city in 1851.

In 1859 George A. Smith sold his Mexican land grant to Alexander Beckstead who, with others, settled one-half mile to the south. They dug a five mile ditch from Jordan River, in operation since completed in 1863. Adobe community house built, 1864. John Winward, first school teacher. In 1863 L.D.S. Branch organized, James Woods, Pres., succeeded by Wm. A. Bills, 1867, who became bishop in 1877. Later, on this site, a 30 x 46 ft. granite-adobe chapel was erected also used for school and recreation.

Check out all of the historic markers placed by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers at JacobBarlow.com/dup

Draper is in the south-east corner of Salt Lake Valley, near Bluffdale, Sandy, South Jordan and others. Draper is located just north of “Point of the Mountain,” officially “Traverse Mountain,” a popular hang-gliding spot.

Draper was originally called Sivogah, meaning Willows. The town was then known as Willow Creek for the creek the settlers used. They also used the region as a grazing area for their cattle. The town name was then changed to Brownsville for Ebenezer Brown and family who arrived in 1849. Later, the name was again changed to honor William Draper, the town’s first Mormon bishop. The Draper family settled in the area in 1850.

Bluffdale, named for its twenty-five square miles of bluffs and dales, extends from Herriman on the west to Riverton on the north, Draper on the east and the Utah County line on the south. Originally it was part of West Jordan, first settled in 1848-1849. On July 29, 1858, Orrin Porter Rockwell paid five- hundred dollars to Evan M. Green for sixteen acres of land near the Crystal Hot Lakes (adjacent to the present Utah State Prison). This land included a hotel with dining facilities, stable, brewery, and pony express station. As the community expanded, the Bluffdale area became part of South Jordan, then Riverton. In 1883 the Bluffdale School Precinct was formed from parts of Herriman, South Jordan and Draper. On August 1, 1886, the Bluffdale Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized with Lewis H. Mousley as Bishop. For a short time the town was called Mousley. There are seven irrigation canals that originate at the Jordan Narrows in the Bluffdale area and serve the Salt Lake Valley. One of the earliest was the Utah and Salt Lake Canal started in 1862. Some of the early buildings included an adobe church, built in 1887-1888, a tithing house, and a three-room schoolhouse constructed in 1893.